Dime Novels are Back as e-Books — and Expensive

The dime novel was popular before my time, back before a TV was in every home and folks looked for cheap entertainment. These novels were sold as a serial, with a chapter released every so often for a nickel or a dime. They were quite popular as the story was doled out in small enough pieces to hook the reader to get them coming back for each episode. Dime Novel Publishing is hoping to revive the concept in digital form.

This serial approach is perfect for the e-book form, as new episodes can be purchased and read immediately upon release. There’s no searching around to see if the store has it yet, a notification tells you it’s available and you go get it. That’s if you can afford it. Each episode in the Dime Novel portfolio is $0.99, which sounds pretty cheap until you realize each novel consists of 23 episodes. The first one is free to get you hooked but you pony up the cash for the other 22 episodes. Yes, each complete novel will cost you $21.78. Not quite a dime novel, is it?

There are three serials currently available, and they look to be aimed at young readers. A new episode for each is released every 10 days and sold through Smashwords.